Hamilton hospital takes Auckland cancer patients

1.00pm

Waikato Hospital is to take Auckland cancer patients to help ease the city's waiting lists.

Auckland Hospital will send five patients to be seen tomorrow and Friday for their first assessment by a specialist. Five more patients will travel to the Waikato each week for the next three to four weeks.

Health Waikato medical oncology and haematology manager Neil McKelvie said he would keep a close eye on the arrangement to ensure no Waikato patients were affected.

"I wouldn't be offering this if I believed it would have any impact on Waikato patients. I'm checking the waiting lists every day. If it did I would stop it," Mr McKelvie said.

The service was being offered to Auckland patients who would normally have to be sent to Australia.

"They are predominantly breast and prostate cancer patients, they tend to be the ones that can travel easier," Dr McKelvie said.

The move was possible because the recent addition of a locum radiologist has reduced waiting times for first specialist assessments.

Meanwhile, there are fresh concerns over Hamilton's lack of qualified cervical cancer screening staff after the city's only cervical cancer screening lab announced it was to move the service to Dunedin in August.

Medlab's move will reportedly involve the relocation or redundancy of up to 10 cytotechnologists, whose role is to provide an interpretation for all patient samples.

Acting clinical director of Waikato Hospital's laboratory, Fred Mayall said the closure would make diagnosis more difficult.

"When you treat patients, it's quite important that we're able to independently verify diagnosis made elsewhere. It's important there is some expertise locally able to review things if needed."

Dr Mayall said there was a shortage of cytotechnologists around the country and it was "a huge waste" to be making any redundant.

The move was sparked by New Zealand Diagnostic Group's purchase of Medlab.

- NZPA